CinemaCon 2016: ‘Trolls’ footage description

There was something about troll dolls that made them one of the most popular toys back in the day. Was it the Don King-like hair? The large black glassy eyes? Who knows, but Dreamworks Animation is ready to bring troll dolls to life with TROLLS. The film boasts an all-star cast that includes Anna Kendrick (Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates), Justin Timberlake (Runner Runner), Zooey Deschanel (Fox’s “New Girl”), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass 2), James Corden (CBS’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden”), Kunal Nayyar (CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory”), Gwen Stefani (NBC’s “The Voice”), John Cleese (Monty Python & The Holy Grail), Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek), and Jeffrey Tambor (Amazon’s “Transparent”). At CinemaCon, Fox unveiled a teaser clip featuring Anna Kendrick’s Poppy and Justin Timberlake’s Branch.

The clip opens with Poppy out in the forest camping out with Branch. They are the total opposites, she’s peppy and he’s crabby. She opens up a series of picture frames made from popsicle sticks, featuring the rest of the film’s characters. After saying goodnight to every single picture individually, she starts to sing in order to fall asleep. This irritates Branch heavily and emphasizes that he likes silence when he sleeps. This doesn’t stop Poppy as she busts out a mandolin and starts singing Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence.” Yes, the same song from all those “Sad Affleck” memes.

The entire forest suddenly starts to come to life and starts singing along with her. The forest beings look like something out of Yo Gabba Gabba and “The Sound of Silence” eventually turns into one huge production number. As the song ends, Branch goes up to Poppy and asks if he can borrow her mandolin. Of course, being the nice girl that she is, gives the mandolin to Branch. He smiles as he throws the mandolin into the campfire. As he bundles up and goes back to sleep, Poppy is still as optimistic as ever. “Hm. At least I’ll be warm,” she says.

Overall, I didn’t hate TROLLS as much as I thought I would. I’m a sucker for the odd couple theme – blame it on Lethal Weapon — and Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake seem to play well off each other.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments section below!

DreamWorks Animation’s TROLLS is an irreverent comedy extravaganza with incredible music! From the genius creators of SHREK, TROLLS stars Anna Kendrick as Poppy, the optimistic leader of the Trolls, and her polar opposite, Branch, played by Justin Timberlake. Together, this unlikely pair of Trolls must embark on an adventure that takes them far beyond the only world they’ve ever known.